Adobe Goes Prime Time With Video Ad-Serving Suite

Adobe Systems will release a suite of products Monday that claims to change the way videos and ads are delivered across iPads, Android tablets, Internet-connected TVs and other devices
from one platform -- prime time.

The move puts Adobe in the ad-serving business. The company previously provided ad publishing or streaming media, but not advertising capabilities, explains
Ashley Still, director of product management at Adobe.

Initially, Adobe will introduce Primetime Highlights. The project will integrate video publishing, advertising and analytics by
incorporating many of the technology acquisitions the company made in recent years. Rollout releases will occur throughout the year.

Video advertising continues to grow more rapidly than
other online ad formats; this year eMarketer estimates online video will surpass rich media in terms of ad spending. U.S. online video ad spend will grow 52.1% to
$2.16 billion -- up from $1.42 billion last year. Video ad spending will reach $7.1 billion by 2015 -- up from $2.16 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer.

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Jeremy Helfand, Adobe director of
monetization, and former Auditude CEO, says the new platform will provide TV-quality video experience on mobile and connected TVs.

The platform, already used by Comcast and other broadcasters,
also ties in Omniture analytics, ad revenue-based analytics and DemDex, which Adobe acquired in January 2011. Data management platform DemDex will allow Primetime to support audience targeting, as
well as segmentation. The technology captures behavioral data on behalf of Web sites and advertisers, storing it in a data warehouse.

By integrating directly with a publisher's content
management system, it allows publishers to target ads based on specific perimeters, like content, genre, or any other metadata. All the data, such as segmentation and demographic, become targetable
variables through Auditude platform in Adobe's Digital Marketing Suite.

Adobe also will announce that Access will support iOS. It has long supported desktop in the Flash player, but it will
now support the technology on mobile Apple devices. In beta today, the option ships in Q2 2012.